Film & TV · born 1944Jeffrey TamboractorArrested Development and Larry Sanders Show actor who earned his master's degree in theater at Wayne State University in Detroit.DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,743 famous people
- 96 Detroit places
- 6 fields
Hungarian ties 21 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
Field
Connection
Born in
A–Z (family name)
12 people
Clear filtersFilm & TV · born 1944Jeffrey TamboractorArrested Development and Larry Sanders Show actor who earned his master's degree in theater at Wayne State University in Detroit.
Music · 1945–1970Tammi TerrellsingerPhiladelphia-born Motown singer, discovered by Berry Gordy at Detroit's 20 Grand, whose duets with Marvin Gaye include "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
Sports · born 1948Rudy Tomjanovichbasketball player and coachHamtramck-born rebounding star at the University of Michigan who went on to win NBA championships as a Houston Rockets player and head coach.
Music · born 1949Garry Tallentbassist, record producerFounding bassist of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, born in Detroit before his family moved to the Jersey Shore.
Science & invention · born 1945Deborah Tannenlinguist, authorGeorgetown linguist and author of the long-running best-seller You Just Don't Understand, who earned a master's degree in English literature at Wayne State University.
Music · 1944–1991Rob TynersingerDetroit-born lead singer of the MC5, whose incendiary live album Kick Out the Jams was recorded at the Grande Ballroom in October 1968.
Music · 1941–2011Marv Tarplinguitarist, songwriterThe Miracles' guitarist, who co-wrote "The Tracks of My Tears", "Ain't That Peculiar" and "Cruisin'" with Smokey Robinson.
Music · 1944–1980Georgeanna TillmansingerInkster-born original member of the Marvelettes, heard on "Please Mr. Postman", who left the group because of illness and died at 35.
Music · 1948–2024Dennis Thompsondrummer“Machine Gun” Thompson, the Detroit-born drummer of the MC5, whose rapid-fire attack powered the band and who was its last surviving original member.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗